Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975) is the starting third baseman for the New York Yankees. Career with the Yankees 2004 On February 14, 2004, Rodriguez was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano. Rodriguez agreed to move to third base, due to fan favorite Derek Jeter entrenced in the position, and to change his number from 3 to 13, due to Babe Ruth's retired number. On May 4, Rodriguez became the youngest player ever to knock in 1,000 runs, doing so with a three-run home run. This also was his 350th career home run, making him the youngest player to reach this mark. In his first season with the Yankees, Rodriguez batted .286, hit 36 home runs, with 106 RBIs, and scoring 112 runs. He also was voted an All-Star for his eighth time. 2004 ALCS Controversy During the bottom of the eight inning of Game 6 of the ALCS, Rodriguez hit grounder back to Red Sox pitcher Brandon Arroyo. As Arroyo tried to tag Rodriguez out, Rodriguez knocked the ball out of his hand and advanced to second while Derek Jeter scored. The umpires ruled that Rodriguez was out due to interference, sending Jeter back to first with the Red Sox leading 4-2. 2005-2007 On June 8, Rodriguez knocked out his 400th career home run off of Milwaukee's Chris Capuano. Rodriguez would go on to be 4 for 4 on the day. On November 14, Rodriguez became the first Yankee in 20 years to win the AL MVP award, beating out Red Sox David Ortiz. In Rodriguez's second season with the Yanks, he batted .321, with 130 RBIs, and led the AL with runs (124) and home runs (48). He also was voted an All-Star and a Silver Slugger award winner. On July 21, 2006, Rodriguez hit his 450th home run off Toronto's A.J. Burnett. Rodriguez became the youngest player ever to reach this mark, this also was his 2,000th hit. Rodriguez finished the 2006 season with 35 home runs, 121 RBIs, 113 runs scored and batted a .290. He was voted an All-Star for his tenth time in eleven years. Rodriguez had a hot start to the 2007 season, with six homers in the first seven games. On July 12, Rodriguez became the first player to hit 150 home runs with 3 teams, with a homer against the Devil Rays. On August 4, Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach 500 home runs, the homer was off Kansas City's Kyle Davies at Yankee Stadium. On November 19, Rodriguez was voted for the second time in his career for the MVP award. Rodriguez finished the 2007 season batting .314 and leading the AL with home runs (54), RBIs (156), slugging percentage (.645), OPS (1.067), and total bases (376). He was also the fifth player to record 50 home runs and 150 RBIs. 2007 Controversy On May 30, 2007, while running between second and third, Rodriguez yelled and caused the Toronto shortstop to drop a routine pop up. The error allowed the Yankees to score 3 runs and they went on to win 10-5. 2008-2009 In 2008, Rodriguez batting .302, 35 home runs, 103 RBIs, and 104 runs scored. He recieved his 10th Silver Slugger award and was named an All-Star for the 12th time. After sitting out for spring training and the first month of the 2009 season due to hip surgery, Rodriguez marked his return with a three-run shot in his first at bat of his first game back against the Orioles. On October 4, Rodriguez knocked in (via his two home runs in the inning) seven of the ten runs in the sixth inning against the Rays. The performance set the AL record for the most RBIs by a batter in one inning. Rodriguez earned his first World Series ring, as New York beat the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2. In Game 6, Rodriguez went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Rodriguez finished the season with 100 RBIs, 30 home runs, and a .286 batting average. Steroid Confession After previously denying any use of steroids, Rodriguez admitted taking PEDs from 2001-2003 while playing for the Rangers. His confession came 48 hours after it was reported that he was on a list of 104 players who tested postiive for banned subtances in 2003. 2010-present On August 4, 2010, after being stuck on 599 home runs for two weeks, Rodriguez shot out his 600th career homer off of Toronto's Shaun Marcum. With that he became the youngest player to reach the mark. In 2010, Rodriguez batted .270 with 30 home runs, and 125 RBIs. Rodriguez had one of his worst seasons in 2011, batting .276 with 16 home runs, and 62 RBIs. In 2012, Rodriguez batted .272 with 18 home runs, and 57 RBIs. During the postseason it was suspected that the Yankees might trade Rodriguez to the Miami Marlins. Rodriguez is currently on the Yankees' 60-Day DL due to his hip. The Daily News reported that the injury might end his career. Rodriguez is also on the verge of becoming the second Yankees player to collect 3,000 hits, with 2,901 hits. He would join teammate Derek Jeter, as the only Yankees to reach the milestone. Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Players Category:Third basemen Category:2009 World Series championship team Category:Tampa Yankees players Category:Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Category:New York Yankees players